//------------------------------// // Chapter X // Story: The Ending of the End - Love and Tolerance Edition // by StarlightisVERYcute //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle held the binoculars close to her eyes with her telekinesis. Through them, she could clearly see her sister, her sister’s friends, and their enemies walking into the castle. Tirek stuck his gargantuan arm in after them, but appeared to be making no aggressive moves. Beside her, Apple Bloom was working on traps and Scootaloo was keeping a wider watch. “Well, what do we do now?” she asked, putting her binoculars down to look at her two friends. “We make those monsters too scared to come mess with Ponyville,” Scootaloo suggested, smiling confidently. “Or we could go after our family and friends in the Everfree,” Apple Bloom suggested. “Keep them safe while our sisters go save the world?” A brilliant white light shot out of Princess Twilight’s castle, and Tirek vanished. “Well, who knows?” Sweetie asked. Her voice bubbled with barely suppressed laughter. “Maybe they’ll save Equestria before we can even make up our minds what to do?” “Now wouldn’t that be somethin’,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Well, if you think we should booby-trap Ponyville, Scootaloo, I’m all for it.” “Actually, you might be right,” Scootaloo admitted. “We can rebuild the town much faster than we can heal up injured friends.” Sweetie facehoofed. Were they seriously swapping opinions? “Okay-I-agree-with-Scootaloo-now-and-Apple-Bloom-from-before-so-lets-go-help-our-loved-ones-okay? Okay.” Apple Bloom stared at her for a moment, and promptly started giggling. Scootaloo tried to restrain herself, but quickly joined Apple Bloom’s mirth. Even Sweetie’s annoyed face cracked a smile, and from there started chuckling as well. Once their laughter slowed to a crawl, Apple Bloom spoke up. “You know, you girls are the best friends a pony could ask for.” “Hear hear,” Scootaloo added. “Definitely,” Sweetie finished. “Well, let’s get going! Our families aren’t going to protect themselves.” She grabbed her assorted equipment as her friends did the same, and the three fillies set out for deeper in the forest. The grim blanket of ashen clouds slowly circled around what remained of Canterlot Castle. Snow fell quickly on the stone floor, but it seemed to consciously avoid the ruined throne room’s only inhabitant. Grogar carefully traced sigils of incredible complexity, each line burning with a dreadful blue light. In the frosty, hazy air a brilliant flash of lavender and grey magic engulfed the entire throne room. A flurry of scintillating sparkles swept across the floor. And calm was replaced by a blizzard of activity in a few short heartbeats. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle appeared in a large hexagon ten feet on a side close to Grogar. Ninety feet away, their pupils Silverstream, Gallus, Ocellus, Yona, Sandbar, and Smolder shifted into view as a wedge. And the four villains were split up: Midnight was placed beside Twilight, Tirek on the other side of Grogar, Chrysalis lurking between him and the students, and Cozy and Spike way over on the other side of where the door had been. As Twilight’s vision cleared and she saw the world clearly once more, her years of battle reflexes kicked in. She channeled her magic through her horn, and unleashed a beam at Grogar’s back designed to slow the dread lord’s movements to a crawl. But to her shock, just as the magic reached him, it cascaded over and across a yellow-black sphere of light. Beside her, she felt Midnight charging her own spell. The dark alicorn fired no beam, no flashy display, but Twilight felt a cold chill run down her spin. Midnight’s spell was designed to kill Grogar instantly—to transmute his brain to dust. But that same sphere of yellow and black resonated again, and he was unharmed. A blur of rainbow shot past her and slammed straight into Grogar’s shield at full force. Rainbow unloaded punch after punch into it. Twilight’s eyes could barely keep track of her friends’ hooves. Opposite her, Tirek’s twin horns glowed a fiery orange-red. He extended a huge hand and scrunched his face in concentration. Twilight recognized this technique with practiced ease, for the centaur had used it on her in their duel years ago. Tirek clenched a fist, and a reddish glow surrounded Grogar’s shields. He’s trying to crush the shields with telekinesis. But even with all Tirek’s power, the shield held. Applejack leapt over Twilight to deliver a full applebucking kick right into the sphere of magic. Both her powerful legs slammed into his shield, and a crack appeared on it. Twilight felt a leap of hope in her chest. Of course! We have to attack in harmony! Chrysalis let her ebon body crackle with dreadful green fire. The fire grew and grew into a huge conflagration, and out of it stepped an Ursa Major. She swatted downwards, her massive paw battering against Grogar. A few more cracks spread out across its surface, but his shield still held. As Grogar turned to look at Twilight, he said nothing. He stared at them with a heartless lack of passion, as if they were insects to be squashed. Somehow, his silence and cold cruelty was worse than any gloating could be. As the orbs around his neck flickered with magic, Twilight found herself, her five friends, and Midnight trapped in a circular cage of yellow magical energy. On the cage’s roof, a vortex of black energy sizzled into existence. Twilight instinctively cast a spell to teleport herself and her companions out, but it simply failed—she found herself right where she was, just like within Sombra’s traps. She looked over to Midnight, who seemed to be having the same troubles, and to Pinkie, who was muttering to herself. “Pinkie?” Twilight asked. “What do you think is going on?” “Weeeeell, I’m not a magical mage like you are, but I think Grogar’s about to destroy us,” she said with a slight smile. “That looks preeeetty nasty.” Twilight’s heart sunk. No way out, and unlike Sombra, Grogar seemed completely uninterested in playing with them. He just wanted to win. “Quickly!” Stygian urged Tirek. The complex spell Starswirl had cast allowed Stygian to advise even across the distance from Ponyville to Canterlot. “You have to do something! You need them!” Tirek didn’t bother to respond. He locked eyes with Chrysalis, who nodded just a hair. Tirek reached out with his telekinesis, but not on Grogar—Grogar’s wards were still too strong. Instead, he reached for the ground under Grogar. With a crunch of his fist, he cracked the stone and sent Grogar stumbling. His magic faltered for just a moment, but that was all Chrysalis needed. As Cozy’s apparition flew over to mock Grogar, Chrysalis shapeshifted into a cheetah. She dashed over to Tirek and let her skin flow back to her normal form. She touched his huge hoof, and performed a simple teleportation spell: bringing Tirek inside the magic cage as well. Grogar had warded it against leaving, but not against entering. Grogar shook his head, and narrowed his eyes at Chrysalis and Tirek. Above Tirek, the deadly vortex of dark light was crackling. Tirek raised both his hands and cast a protective barrier spell, to shield Chrysalis, Midnight, and the annoyingly lucky ponies. “What are you doing!?” Stygian demanded. “Even with all your power, you can’t stand up to an attack like that!” Tirek knew Stygian was right. Even with all the power he’d amassed, he knew this ward would never hold against Grogar’s attack. If he and his friends had used the Bewitching Bell right, it wouldn’t need to. If they hadn’t, then they would die here, in a blizzard at the very throne room of Canterlot Castle. At last, it seemed, the spell had built up enough energy for Grogar’s tastes. With a cold, almost dismissive wave of his hoof, the energy surged downwards towards the assembled heroes and villains. Tirek defiantly locked eyes with Grogar and snarled. Grogar simply frowned, as if disappointed. “You should have known better”, his face seemed to say. The energy of Grogar’s brutal attack cascaded through Tirek’s shield, shattering it like glass. It washed down and over him, seeking to reduce him to ashes. And the careful enchantments Chrysalis and he had placed upon him activated. As the energy approached his skin, it warped and twisted. His flesh simply absorbed the destructive magic as if he’d eaten it from Grogar himself. Tirek grew in size, his muscles bulging out. He split his face with a grin as all of the magic became his to command. He reared back on his hind legs, before lurching forward and sending a beam of crimson light spearing towards Grogar. The stolen energy strained and then snapped through the cage of force. It hit Grogar’s defensive wards with no apparent effect. The cage must have soaked up so much of the magic the blast was too weak to hurt him, Tirek mused. Below Tirek, Chrysalis shapeshifted into a falcon and went into a screaming power dive towards Grogar. Right before she would have impacted, she shifted into a malwurf and slashed at Grogar. As both of her claws connected, her fur became chitin, a pair of extra limbs shot from her torso, and she became a giant insect. With each strike she adapted her attacks, trying to find a weak spot in Grogar’s defenses. Her attacks couldn’t get through, but it was enough to force him a few steps backwards. Pinkie Pie appeared behind Grogar. “Bleeeh! Mleeenm! How old are you? You sure are ugly! Oh, and—you’re going down!” She pulled a cake from behind her ear and splattered it all over his shield. Rarity flicked her horn, and a crystalline shield of magic appeared before Rainbow Dash. The pegasus nodded with a smirk, and shot forward to hammer the shield into Grogar’s own. He took another step back, frowning. “Why did you decide to betray me?” Grogar asked. “Had you remained loyal, you would have become rulers of pieces of the world.” “You wouldn’t leave us anything to rule,” Cozy’s shadow self answered with a cute smile. “We want subjects!” “And I didn’t want to have to bow to anyone,” Chrysalis added. Grogar curled his face into a grim stare. His horns and bells crackled with yellow-black magic, and the air split asunder. Jagged bolts of lightning darted towards everyone nearby except Tirek, including the false Cozy. Applejack was barely able to duck behind a piece of masonry, and even so the bolt sent her flying backwards. Everything hurt. Her body felt like the time Rainbow had accidentally shocked her with lightning. She looked around. Speaking of Rainbow, the blue pegasus was almost unconscious. Pinkie lay unmoving. Chrysalis’s now-many-tentacled body was blackened and smoking. Twilight and Midnight were cowering behind a shared shield crisscrossed with cracks. Rarity’s dainty form was halfway across the room. Applejack couldn’t see Fluttershy. The phantom Cozy, naturally, was completely unharmed. And Tirek didn’t look hurt, but he was opening his mouth and clawing at the air, with no sound coming out. Before Applejack could even get to her feet, circles of yellow magic chained her limbs down. A quick look around told her most of her allies had suffered the same fate. Grogar narrowed his eyes. “So, you thought to betray me and thus rule over Equestria in its current state? And to that end, you joined forces with your quarry to remove me? Hmmmph, a clever plan.” He tightened his magical grip. “Now, tell me the location of the real Cozy Glow, and from where you gained these new powers.” “Should we teleport you home?” Stygian asked Applejack through his mental link. His voice quivered with terror. “Or do you want to fight a little longer?” Before Applejack could reply, she saw a flash of yellow—but not Grogar’s yellow. It was Fluttershy! “How dare you?” Fluttershy demanded. She flew to right in front of Grogar. “How dare you!? Listen here, you big meanie! You may have powers beyond imagination and have created every kind of monster we’ve ever fought and be able to any of us effortlessly, but you do not, I repeat, YOU. DO. NOT. HURT. MY. FRIENDS! Got that?” Grogar just snorted derisively, and lit his horn again. But before he could complete his spell, Fluttershy whirled in the air, sending snow right into his face. He snarled, and as he wiped his shield clear, Fluttershy locked eyes with him. She looked straight through him, applying the full power of her legendary Stare. And it did absolutely nothing. Grogar completed his spell and black lightning lancing into Fluttershy. She was tossed across the room like a foal’s doll, slamming into a shattered pillar with a horrible crack. She landed hard and lay still. Okay, that’s enough. Applejack focused inward to talk with Stygian, but the sound of a waterfall rushing over a cliff made it hard to think. She looked up again, and saw a glorious rainbow light. It shone from behind Grogar, and slammed into him like a sparkling train. He was knocked to his knees with a groan. Applejack’s bonds vanished, and she bolted upright. Their students were glowing with Harmony’s energy, floating above the ground. “You should really look behind you once in a while, Grogar,” Gallus said with a snarky grin. “Not that it’d help. You don’t stand a chance against all of us working together!” Grogar scanned the room, presumably assessing the odds. After a moment, he raised his voice. “Guards!” he ordered. “There are intruders here. Distract them while I destroy them.” As he uttered the word ‘intruders’, a scintillating portal of yellow and black appeared just to the right of him, and six blackened, pitted jewels flew out. They began to orbit him slowly. And as he said ‘destroy’, he let a volley of six dark bolts towards the students. Each bolt struck true, and the energy scattered the creatures like leaves in a thunderstorm. Chrysalis licked her lips in fury. He had hurt her badly, deeper than anyone had ever before. And he had nearly killed Tirek with that little trick of sucking all the air from his lungs. But no more. Now he will pay in full. She willed her many tentacles back into her body. Her torso and neck lengthened as her tail shifted from another tentacle into hard carapace. She returned to a comfortable, natural chitinous body, but not her default form—no, this was a battle form. Her mandibles chittering, she became a humongous centipede! She skittered across the snow and bit down, hard, towards Grogar. Her mouthparts burned as the magic sizzled against them, but at long last, his shield shattered. Even as her smoking jaws continued in their inward path, she was reshaping her body once more. Vertebrae appeared along her back and her mouth shifted from right-left to top-down. It grew true teeth, and in an instant, she was a quarry eel. Her jaws closed around Grogar, but as soon as she touched his skin, his body automatically reacted with a surge of magic. She felt her shapeshifting slipping away from her, and her body returned to her normal changeling form. “W-what?!” she asked aloud, shock filling her voice. “How?” “You cannot defeat me with my own creations,” Grogar replied icily. His horns glowed with power, and rock spikes stabbed up towards her. Only her instinctive shifting to a flea saved her from being skewered by his deadly spell. Midnight analyzed Grogar’s magic. He favored efficient, lethal magic, just like her, though it seemed he preferred to attack as many enemies as possible simultaneously, preventing him from applying the most lethal ones. The deadliest spells only worked against a single foe. The gems orbiting Grogar reminded her vividly of the ones she and her sister clones had tried to seize back at the Tree of Harmony. But something was different about these. They had a far darker gleam, and Midnight felt a deep connection to one in particular. It felt… right, somehow. Something to loot from his corpse, she decided. She beat her wings, and leapt into the air. Her forhead, just below her horn, ached as she concentrated, and a deadly spell darted down towards Grogar. If the spell worked, it would transmute all his blood to acid. His eyes darted upward. With a grunt, he opened a portal below himself, and vanished. The portal closed behind him. Her spell hit the stone ground with no effect—it only worked on living things, after all. She looked around. Many of her allies were severely damaged. That would not do. Though it hurt her pride to admit, she had had much less luck against Grogar than them. Logic dictated expending some of her own power to aid them. She flew down to them, and concentrated deeply. With a gasp of pain, she transfused a bit of her own life force into Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. Her knees buckled, and the world spun. But each of them started to stir. “Get up,” she urged with a pained whimper. “You need to help!” Rainbow unsteadily got to her hooves. “Midnight? What did you do?” “I gave you each some of my life energy. I don’t know how effective a fighter I’ll be without it. I’m counting on you!” She felt an emotion she had never experienced before, sort of like fear mixed with anticipation. Pinkie jerked awake. “Midnight, go find cover. We’ll deal with that mean old party pooper!” Fluttershy nodded, her face unusually similar to Mean Fluttershy. “Do you hear that, Grogar? Nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it!” Twilight flicked her horn, and sent a spell rippling down its length. It surged towards Grogar just as Midnight cast her own spell. Twilight’s spell was far less dangerous than Midnight’s but also far harder to block, and sure enough, it hit Grogar on the shin. His body rippled briefly. As he vanished into his portal, Twilight adopted a defensive stance. Her spell was calculated to enervate and weaken him, making him sleepy and confused. It would hopefully leave him vulnerable enough for her friends to defeat him. She saw Midnight flying over to Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow, and help them up. Midnight stumbled, suddenly looking very ill. She limped over to behind a collapsed wall and out of Twilight’s sight. With a horrid cracking sound, the ground underneath Twilight split in two. Only her wings saved her from the chasm. It tore through the huge room. Just as Rarity was about to fall in, Pinkie slammed into her to knock her to safety. Not a moment too late, either, as the floor crunched back together. Twilight looked around frantically. Where’s Grogar? There’s so much rubble he has countless places to hide. She took a deep, deep breath, and closed her eyes. As an alicorn, she had a fundamental connection to the force of magic itself. She reached inside herself to feel for fluctuations nearby. There were the villains, of course—they were clouds of dark smoke, glinting a pale blue light. There were each of her friends, with their corresponding element color. Their students likewise had such auras. But Grogar? He was hard to see, but he wasn’t invisible so much as too vast. The whole room seemed to be glowing with his magic. She opened her eyes. Maybe ordinary vision would succeed where magic aura-reading had failed. She beat her wings to get aloft and gain a bird’s eye view of the area. She quickly gained altitude. Guess flying lessons with Rainbow paid off. But even here, fifty feet above the ground, Grogar was impossible to see. What was he up to? Pinkie couldn’t see Grogar, but that wasn’t a big problem. She still had her Pinkie Sense, after all. And it was pinging a bigger doozy than she’d found at Froggy Bottom Bogg. Twilight giving up on trying to understand her. Twitcha-twitch, twitcha-twitch! She reflexively dove forward just before the ground split apart, pushing Rarity to safety. With the world going crazy, Pinkie did the only thing that made sense: She loaded her party canon and snarled. Grrr! If that big party pooper thinks he can get away with hurting her friends, he has another thing coming. Something that will take the cake. But it won’t take a happy cake that tasted good, no—more like the awful cake Sombra made the Cakes bake. A Sombra-Cake-baked cake will take the cake! Pinkie felt her Pinkie Sense filling up her bones with the information she so desperately needed. She pirouetted on her rear hooves and fired the cake-taking cake high into the air. It splattered down just behind the shattered thrones, and a disgusted groan rang out. Gotcha! With a shimmer of pink, Pinkie reappeared right in front of Grogar. Before he could so much as cast a spell, she’d loaded in another cake and blasted his face with goopy batter. “Hahaha! Taste the cake! The bad-tasting cake! Doesn’t it taste of black licorice and revenge? Ahh, revenge tastes sweet. But not this revenge cake!” Grogar tried to wipe his eyes clear, but Pinkie was reloading and firing cakes faster than he could clean. Pinkie saw a cyan blur out of the corner of her eye and grinned. Now the fun really begins! Rainbow split the air asunder with a screaming BOOM, leaving a trail of rainbow in her wake. She slammed into Grogar like a freight train, knocking him to the floor and sending him skidding fifteen feet back. She followed up with a barrage of rapid attacks, each punch and kick hard enough to crack stone. Even with Grogar’s magically hardened flesh, it looked like it hurt. “This! Is! For! The! Princesses!” Grogar groaned, before shoving a hoof up blindly and touching her chest. Suddenly, Rainbow was trapped in a sphere of magical force. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Rainbow clutched at her throat, and Pinkie had a feeling Rainbow was suffocating! “Help!” Pinkie shouted. “Rainbow’s in trouble!” Applejack jumped over the thrones and went into a roundhouse power kick. The orb of magic shuddered, but held. Grogar wiped the cake off his face, and glanced across each of them in order. Rarity flicked her long scarf around Grogar’s forehoof, and yanked hard. “Unhand Rainbow this instant, you fiend!” He stumbled, and she followed up with a surge of electricity down her clothing. Rainbow struggled in her bubble. She was firmly stuck—and all that activity had to be using up even more of her remaining oxygen. Rarity and Applejack had helped, but it still wasn’t enough. Pinkie drew her trumpet, took a deep breath, and blew as hard as she could right into Grogar’s ear. Rainbow dropped to the ground, but Grogar looked much less discombobulated than he should have. Pinkie didn’t like it. But at least Rainbow seemed okay. She was breathing rapidly and lay prone, but her eyes were open. Pinkie frowned. Even with all her tricks, this was a losing battle. Where was Twilight? Where were their evil allies? Why weren’t they helping against Grogar? As Twilight carefully trotted towards where Pinkie and Rainbow had gone, she felt a cold chill run down her back. She whirled around to look behind her. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Midnight were staring at her. Tirek’s face was contorted with rage, and Chrysalis wore a cruel smirk. Midnight was giving her a coldly analytical look, like she was a frog for dissection. She didn’t seem to be limping anymore. Did she heal? Or did she fake her injury? Twilight felt a sudden surge of rage flaring in her own heart. Chrysalis had done horrible things to her and her brother. Tirek had nearly absorbed all Equestria’s magic. And she was going into battle alongside them? What would Celestia think? She wouldn’t, because she can’t, Twilight remembered. These monsters had taken Celestia away from her. With a pained snarl, she flicked her horn towards Chrysalis. A purple surge of magic shot down its length and arced towards the changeling. Chrysalis transformed into a flea, but the spell turned in mid-flight and struck directly on her. She was encased in lavender amber, unharmed but helpless. Beside her, Fluttershy looked into Tirek’s eyes, rage and misery mixing in equal parts. “Because of Grogar, Discord is gone! How could you let him do that?!” “He was a threat to me,” Tirek retorted. “As Twilight has become.” He thrust a hand forward and grabbed Twilight in his impossibly strong telekinesis. With a nasty smile, he began to squeeze. Midnight took aim at Fluttershy with her own horn. Unlike Tirek or Chrysalis, she displayed no satisfaction, merely a cold indifference. And high above, the Windigos swirled in the storm, cooing triumphantly. Even the Princess of Friendship and Element of Kindness had fallen to their influence. Just as Midnight was about to cast a spell to reduce Fluttershy to dust, Cozy dove in front of her. “Wait!” Midnight raised an eyebrow, but stopped. “What is it, Cozy Glow? Why do you want me to not attack her?” “Look at you! Only a minute ago you were all getting along just fine. What happened?” she demanded, glancing towards Tirek. “It occurred to me that Twilight would throw us all in Tartarus as soon as we defeated Grogar,” Tirek answered. “And I decided to make sure that wouldn’t happen.” “Riiiiight,” Cozy said skeptically. “And she decided to attack you for some brand-new reason too. Really, Tirek, I’d expect this kind of naïveté from Midnight—no offense, you’re just only a day old—but from you?” Tirek looked down at the floor and slackened his magical grasp just enough for Twilight to breathe. “I remembered that they had let Discord be… whatever Grogar did to him! You did too!” Fluttershy interjected. “And that’s wrong!” Cozy sighed. “Yes, it is. But we’re fighting Grogar, right?” Each of them nodded except for Chrysalis, who was still encased in translucent magic crystal. “And we know he’s summoned Windigos. Now, what are Windigos really, really good at?” “Stirrin up… hatred…” Tirek said slowly. He blushed a little. “Heh. I guess you’re right.” He dropped Twilight, and a moment later, she unfroze Chrysalis. Chrysalis reverted to her natural form and looked at Cozy. “What you’re saying makes sense. Any rage we feel is probably the result of the Windigos. Can we count on you to keep us from fighting each other?” Cozy gave Chrysalis a big smile and a nod. “Very well, Cozy,” Midnight said, letting the magic on her horn fade. “I have only one other question for you.” “Sure!” Cozy replied. “What is it?” “What’s a Windigo?” Midnight got her answer with a horrid roar from above. They were like nothing so much as swirling, ghostly clouds of snow in the shape of horses. Their blue, crystalline eyes froze even her detached soul. “Let’s hurry,” Twilight whispered. Starlight sat in the war room, deep in contemplation. Negotiation with Saddle Arabia had gone well. Now they were just waiting for the signal to attack. Twilight had communicated briefly about her status and the magic necessary to contact Gusty the Great’s spirit. She rose to look out across the legions. Between Griffonstone’s and the Dragon Lands’ air forces, Saddle Arabia’s and Yakyakistan’s armies, the renegade Hippogriff navy, and the Changeling scouts and spies, she was very proud of her work. With Equestria’s ponies and buffalo, this host might well be the largest ever assembled. A shift in the air told her another pony was approaching. She turned, and Sunburst was there. He asked, “Is everything alright, Starlight? You look… frazzled.” “I’m just worn out, that’s all,” she reassured him. “Well, I guess I am a little anxious too.” “A little?” Sunburst echoed with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, a lot. I’ve never led an army larger than a village. What if I mess up? Or get mind controlled?” She nibbled anxiously on her hoof. “Ohhh, or what if enemies are acting as sleeper agents inside our host and are reporting on everything we do to Grogar? We already know some changelings and dragons serve Grogar. What if he’s managed to convince others to join him too, and now all our plans are available to him?” Sunburst looked right into her eyes. “Take a deep breath, Starlight.” She did so. “Now let it out slowly.” Again, she complied. “You are one of the most powerful sorcerers alive. A single fully grown dragon like Torch can probably destroy a city singlehandedly, and we have a dozen of them. It’s going to be okay.” “Of course it will,” Trixie interjected. “The Heroic and Daring Trixie would never let her dear friend Starlight Glimmer come to any trouble, and that extends to her friend’s friends as well.” “Thanks, guys,” Starlight said with a genuine smile. “I’m just really nervous. What if I screw up?” “You won’t,” Sunburst assured her. “We’re here to help you.” “And even if you do, the Great and Powerful Trixie will be there to fix it,” Trixie added. Starlight reached out with her telekinesis, and pulled her two friends into a big hug. “Thank you,” she said softly as she embraced them both. Cozy called her shadow self back into her body, and allowed herself a few moments of contemplation on the events of the past few minutes. When the teleportation spell had set her and Spike down just outside the throne room, the guards had immediately accosted them. “Halt!” a teenage dragon demanded. “Who are you?” “Oh, nothing too special,” Spike said. “Just the Dragon Lord’s best friend and his assistant.” “Oh, you’re friends with Dragon Lord Ember, huh?” another dragon asked. “Well, that makes you enemies of Dragon Emperor Grogar. Now surrender!” Spike gulped. Cozy interjected, “We’re not here as invaders, but as diplomats. Ember’s thinking about becoming a vassal of Grogar. I take it you already are?” “Yes,” the first said proudly. “He’ll lead us to greatness!” “Golly, that sounds exciting!” Cozy said with a nice smile. “It’s nice to see that dragons are finally accepting that they don’t belong on top!” “Huh?” the second guard asked. “What do you mean?” “Well, you’re bowing to a non-dragon ruler, and you’re gonna be equals of the diamond dogs. It’s really forward-thinking of you to finally realize you aren’t any better than they are.” Cozy gave them an approving nod. “W… wait…” the second dragon said. “You’re saying that by obeying Grogar, we’re saying we’re only as good as Diamond Dogs?” “Oh, I’m not saying that,” Cozy reassured them. “You are! It’s so nice to see you getting along as equals, and knowing you’re no better than them. It really makes me happy.” The two dragons looked at each other and started whispering. Cozy couldn’t make out any words over the howling wind, but their faces told her plenty. “We’ll be right back,” the first told her. “Don’t go anywhere.” As they flew off, Spike turned to Cozy. “That was incredible! How did you do that?” “It’s simple, really. I just figured out that if ponies could be made to turn against each other, other species in Grogar’s alliance could too.” “Speaking of…” he pointed behind her. “Our friends seem to be in a lot of trouble. Shouldn’t we help them?” “Neither of us has enough power to make a difference against Grogar directly,” Cozy reminded him. “The best way to help them is to create a headache for him out here so he gets distracted. But I will use my shadow copy to bother him as I can.” “Thanks, Cozy,” Spike said, orienting his thumb up. “I’ll guard you while you do that.” Cozy had proceeded to try to help against Grogar, just as she’d said. But when he unleashed his lightning, it became obvious that he knew she wasn’t real. That was her sign to return back to her body. She snapped awake. “Grogar figured out I wasn’t the real Cozy, and that my real body has to be somewhere else. Do you think he’ll find us out here?” Spike scratched his forehead. “Probably. Let’s go find a somewhat intact building nearby to lurk in.” The two of them hurried down the rubble-choked street, flying low to the ground to avoid being spotted. Both Spike and Cozy flew quickly and skillfully. Cozy expertly hid her fear. We have to find a shelter, and fast. There are too many of Grogar’s minions here. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blue-black. It was an unreformed changeling like Chrysalis, but smaller, built like Ocellus. And there were several others beside it. Their expressions reminded her of Chrysalis on particularly bad days. It wasn’t anger, but something far more disturbing: Hunger. Cozy dove down. Did they see me? Before she could get up to check, Spike jumped at her and knocked to the ground! Betrayal! she instantly thought. She struggled to get free, but she was just an ordinary filly, and even a kid dragon was significantly stronger than her. She raised a wing to defend against his next attack, but it never came. She looked at him dubiously, and opened her mouth to ask what he was doing. But before she could get a word out, he clamped his claw over her mouth and pointed up. Cozy instantly understood his meaning. She nodded and stayed quiet. Spike waited a few moments, before whispering, “I think they’re gone.” Cozy nodded, her mind elsewhere. Spike’s actions were perfectly sensible. I would have done the same myself if I’d thought of it. But I had instantly assumed it was betrayal. Why? A thought wormed its way into her brain. There are Windigos up in the clouds. They’re masters of stirring up hatred, just like me, although they cheat. They use magic instead of charisma and manipulation. Could they be skilled enough to affect even my trained mind? There was only one way to find out. She meditated deep within, visualizing an empty chair in an old house. She felt emotions swirling by. She examined each before discarding it. Suspicion was there, of course. So was joy—she loved a scheme done right. Anger was there, in its usual ice-cold form. There was even fear. She was afraid of what Grogar could do to her and what he could do to the world she wanted to conquer. But something was awry. She tugged at the cold anger, and burning hot anger spilled out! Waves and waves of it. So much fury of the kind that rendered the mind useless. She gasped, and looked at Spike. “How were the Windigos defeated?” “Huh?” he asked. “In the stories. How do ponies beat them?” “Well, the Fire of Friendship can repel them,” Spike explained. “That’s a magical fire formed by friendship among the three tribes. Twilight conjures some every Hearth’s Warming.” “Mhmm,” Cozy said. “Well, then get that friendship fire going. Because if they’re affecting me, I bet all your friends are too.” “We need magic,” Spike answered with a frown. “Even dragonfire alone isn’t enough. Plus, it takes inter-tribe friendship. You’re a pegasus, and it requires an earth pony and a unicorn.” “Then I guess we’ll wait here in the bunker,” Cozy said dryly. “I’ll check in on the others with magic.” She tapped one of her bows, and saw through other eyes. Cozy gasped awake. “Golly, it sure is good I checked in on them. They were throwing spells at each other!” “Really?” Spike asked worriedly. “Should we go back?” Stygian’s voice sounded in both their minds. “Don’t go back. You can do more out here. See if you can get those changelings to stop siding with Grogar too, Cozy. Spike, guard her. She’ll need you to keep her safe while her body is helpless.” Spike saluted towards Ponyville. Cozy rolled her eyes, and began to concentrate again. Her shadowy copy flew up and out of the room. The pack of changelings were circling the general area like vultures. She raised her hooves in an innocent manner to show them she meant no harm. They dashed to surround her with their strange spears. “You’re under arrest for an act of war against Grogar’s lands!” the captain hissed. “State your name and business.” “My name’s Cozy Glow,” she said with a dainty smile. “And my business is talking. I’m a diplomatic envoy, sent to meet with you!” “Me?” the captain asked skeptically. “Well, all of you really. You all look terrifying and amazing! But the real matter isn’t a statement, it’s a question.” “Go on,” the captain said, nodding impassively. “Why do you look… well, like that? I thought all the changelings had become colorful beetles?” The captain bared his fangs, snarling dangerously. “No. Some of us still embrace the old ways, unlike those traitors.” “Well gol-ly, isn’t that something!” Cozy cheered. “Only… are the old ways about bowing to a non-changeling?” “What do you mean?” one of the guards asked. A glare from her captain suggested she wasn’t supposed to ask. “Well, it’s just that you’re serving Grogar,” Cozy explained gently. “Isn’t it kind of weird that the Father of Monsters is ordering you about like this? It seems kind of like he sees you less as children… and more as slaves.” “Hardly,” the captain answered dismissively. “Hivelord Grogar is proving to be a very reliable and talented leader. We need his guidance to crush the princesses.” The assorted changelings nodded their assent. “Now hold still.” He opened his mouth wide. Cozy continued to watch him sweetly. He looked down and seemed displeased. “Why can’t I drain any of your emotions?” he demanded. “I can’t feel a single drop of love in you!” “Oh, I always keep my emotions under control,” she answered with a giggle. “And the second is simple. I don’t love anycreature!” Of course, the real reason they couldn’t detect emotions was that this copy of her wasn’t real, but a bit of lying never hurt. All the guards stared at her. “But I thought ponies were always bubbling with happiness and love and all that stuff?” one asked, his voice wavering. “Eh, not me,” Cozy said with a shrug. “Anyway, the point is, you’d better hurry over. My minions are fighting Grogar, and while the Elements probably won’t use any of the more, ehhem, effective methods, I’m sure Chrysalis won’t be so forbearing. So if you wanna keep your ram dad around, better get over there quick!” One of the changelings stared at her in horror. “You’re just a pony grub. How can you be so carefree about orchestrating something like that?” “I dunno,” she replied with her adorable smile. “Guess it’s my special talent or something!” “We have to head out!” a changeling insisted. Her face was warped with fear. “We need to protect the Hivelord!” “Wait,” the captain said slowly. “If this is the pony who’s organizing them… that’s Cozy Glow!” He snarled. “You’re their crafter of lies!” “Golly, you don’t say?” Cozy asked sardonically. “She’s tricking us,” the captain said coolly. “No doubt she just wants us all beside Grogar for some nasty attack or something. Getting us all together to destroy us all at once. Well, it won’t work. And now you’ll pay for your crimes against our lord!” He dove down, spear first to impale her. Cozy effortlessly had her ethereal copy dodge the attack, and as the other changelings charged towards her, she evaded each of their strikes as well. A moment later, she promptly took off down the mountain. She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out. “Can’t catch me!” They beat their wings as hard and fast as they could, but they were still slightly slower than her incorporeal travel. She kept the chase going for a few minutes, until they were too exhausted to chase any longer. After that, she dove into the caves beneath Canterlot and flew up through the floor back to her body’s position. She opened her eyes and saw Spike standing guard with a salvaged spear. “Hey Spike!” “Gaaah!” he said as he whirled around. “Oh, it’s just you, Cozy.” “Yup, just me,” she agreed. “You’ll be glad to know I got those changelings out of Canterlot.” “Nice job! So… what should we do now?” “Check back in on the others, try to keep Grogar off-balance, you know the drill.” She gave Spike a sweet smile. “And on your front, stay on guard. You’re doing an awesome job protecting me!” Spike puffed his chest out proudly and raised an eyebrow with a half-smirk. “Well, well, well. Do you have a crush on me?” Cozy glared daggers at him, before bursting out laughing. “Pffffh, you wish,” she teased. She closed her eyes again, and separated her soul from her body once more Gallus surveyed the battlefield with a cocky half-smile. The professors and Midnight were really laying into Grogar with hoof, wing, and horn. Behind them, Tirek and Chrysalis unleashed their own brutal powers. Those six strange, blackened jewels still swirled around Grogar. What are they? They look like the Elements of Harmony, but warped and scarred. Maybe Ocellus will know? As he stared at them, he felt a prick of sharp pain stabbing from behind his eyes. Beside him, Silverstream was starting to stir. “Ungh, what happened?” she asked with a whimper of pain. “Grogar hit us with black lasers,” Smolder said, cracking her knuckles. “His magic just ignored ours,” Ocellus added worriedly. “How did he do that?” “Yona hate Grogar,” Yona growled. “Yona want to smash Grogar like smashing log!” “Yeah!” Sandbar agreed. “He hurt you guys. Nocreature gets away with that!” Gallus flapped his wings. Their teachers and the other villains were keeping him off-balance. “Ocellus, do you recognize those gems he has around him?” “I guess they look like evil versions of the Elements of Harmony,” Ocellus replied uncertainly. “But there are differences too. The symbols are different. I’ve never heard of something like this. Sorry Gallus.” “Ah well, thanks anyway Ocellus,” Gallus said. “Let’s show him what the team who stopped Cozy can do!” He leapt into the air and flew towards Grogar. Ahead, Grogar was parrying or blocking the attacks and spells of nine different people. As Fluttershy tried to guilt him and Pinkie kept him distracted, Rainbow and Applejack unleashed an unrelenting hail of kicks and punches that only powerful magic could deflect. Rarity was wielding her cape in rapid sweeping strikes, and Twilight and Midnight fired spell after spell. Grogar’s jewels glowed a strange black color, as if they were sucking up the light in the room. He was putting them to good use, blocking or reflecting Tirek’s gargantuan beams of energy. Chrysalis had taken the form of a tall, gangly creature with dozens of of limbs. Rather than strike Grogar personally, she hurled rock after rock at him. Even with all his power, it was clear he was struggling. Beads of sweat ran down Grogar’s face as blocked or deflected every attack. It was working so far, but Gallus could already see his reflexes slowing. He felt a surge of hope. Maybe they’d actually be able to succeed! Gallus beckoned to his friends. Without even checking if they were following him—he knew they were—he shot up into the sky. He went into a power dive towards Grogar, but not at his body. Gallus was aiming for one of the orbiting gemstones. His wings flush against his body, he got closer, and closer, and closer, but just as he was mere yards away Grogar glanced upward. He immediately set his bells aglow, and a shield pulsed into existence. It was all Gallus could do to thrust his wings out and turn what could have been a splat into a hard slam. He hit the shield and the world went black. “Gallus!” Fluttershy gasped. She dashed forward to grab him, and cradled him in her forelegs. Applejack leapt forward to deliver another crushing kick against Grogar’s shield. This time it cracked open like a sphere of brittle ice. He growled, but his voice jerked as he stumbled. As Rainbow slammed her hoof into his chest, both Twilight and Midnight charged spells of their own. Tirek thrust his fist forward to create a laser of ferocious kinetic energy. Before Grogar could retaliate against any of his attackers, Chrysalis returned to her default shape, teleported to mere inches away, and then took the form of the Smooze. She shot a green pseudopod down into his throat, and then vanished from sight. Midnight’s and Twilight’s horns flared in unison, and together they weaved a complex spell of debilitation and binding. A web of pink light appeared around Grogar and began to slowly contract. It sparkled like the night sky, and as Tirek looked at it, it hurt his eyes. It was like staring into a solar eclipse. Grogar crouched low in a defensive stance. “You are—hukhkhgrghk,” he hacked. “Uughkh.” His knees trembled as he coughed uncontrollably. Tirek watched in awe. Chrysalis must have turned herself into a disease, he thought in astonishment. Spike marched back and forth beside Cozy in the bunker. A crush on her, hah! As if. No, my crushes are reserved for good people. Cozy might be on our side for now, but it’s pretty obvious she’s only helping us for her own reasons. Besides, she just isn’t attractive as a partner. I love beautiful, determined, inventive creatures. Not saccharine, scheming, treacherous manipulators. Even if she were to put her talents to good use, she would still just be a distasteful person to be around. Crush or not, though, she is my ally. And I’m going to protect her from all of the threats in this ruined city. The shudder of the ground beneath him sent gears clicking in his head. Tunnelers, in Grogar’s realm, probably subservient to him… diamond dogs! Spike froze where he stood. No more marching—they most likely detected vibrations in the ground. He’d just stay still until they left. Or, if they didn’t leave, fight them off. Between his fire and the spear he’d salvaged from the half-collapsed building, he was ready. As the rumbling came to a stop right under his claws, he didn’t dare to even breathe. He was pretty sure he could take the diamond dogs in a fight, but with Cozy unconscious, he didn’t want to risk her safety. Second after agonizing second ticked by. Finally, the ground rumbled again. It receded, getting fainter and fainter, until it was out of earshot. Spike exhaled hard. That was too close. He still had no idea how his friends were doing, because Cozy had decided to stay asleep. “Come on, Twilight,” he whispered under his breath. “You can do it!” In the dark caves beneath Canterlot, Cozy continued her work. “Now, all I’m saying is, if you’d decide to… not show up for Grogar’s summons, Princesses Celestia and Luna will probably be very thankful. I bet they’d reward you with a lot of gems!” “How we trust pony?” one of the dogs demanded. “Ponies always trick dogs!” “Not a trick,” Cozy reassured them. “I care about you diamond dogs just as much as I care about ponies!” That wasn’t even a lie. She didn’t care about ponies any more than about these dogs. “Even if Grogar wins, you can just say you were held up.” “Hmmm. Pony have point… okay,” the small dog answered. “Dogs will wait for five minutes. Then help Gemking.” Cozy flashed them a big smile. “Thank you! I won’t let the princesses forget this!” She trotted away, and once she was sure she was out of their sight, floated up through the rocks towards the surface. To her surprise, she spotted a group of ponies on a higher level of the tunnels! They all wore thick, black cloaks that obscured their features, but she instinctively sensed danger. She took a breath, although in this form that was utterly useless, and floated down into the ground until only the top of her head was sticking out of it. She snuck forward in absolute silence towards them. “Should we help Grogar now?” a hoarse voice asked in a hushed tone. “He looked like he was having a lot of trouble.” “No,” another answered silkily. “If he wins, it’s moot. If he escapes it’ll be up to us to help him hide, recuperate, and exact revenge. And if he doesn’t, we’ll be able to aid more indirectly. Because if they beat him in a fair fight, there’s nothing we can do in one.” “I agree,” a calm voice added. “We wait, and maintain these sigils.” Cozy inched closer. The cloaks made features hard to determine, but she could deduce there were two earth ponies, a unicorn, and two batponies. They were sitting around a circle surrounded with complex glowing symbols. She racked her brain for context. A bunch of weird cultist ponies hidden under Canterlot who were serving Grogar too? What was going on? Cozy prided herself on her ability to manipulate, even against ponies she’d only just met. But she was not at all confident in her ability to manipulate ponies she couldn’t even make educated guesses about. She slipped down into the rock, and stayed inside it as she flew a couple hundred feet away. From there, she rose through the ceiling and out into Canterlot proper. Up here, the snow was starting to form thick drifts. The Windigos continued to swirl far above. She narrowed her eyes and took flight for the throne room. Midnight flicked her horn, completing the spell Twilight had begun. Lines of magical light flowed into a sphere around Grogar, creating a glowing web. Tiny threads darted from line to line, making the web shimmer like dew. Any spells he fired at any of them would simply bounce around inside his cage. This spell was quite difficult, but combined with Grogar’s sundered defenses and now infected body, victory seemed likely. Sweat flowed down his brow, and he gasped in pain. Whatever Chrysalis had turned into, it seemed horribly virulent. Midnight allowed herself a faint smile. Cozy appeared inside the slowly shrinking energy cage. “Hey, Grogar! Do ya remember how you were saying your power was greater than all of ours combined? Golly, I bet you feel pretty silly now, huh?” “You found a way to boost your power beyond mine,” Grogar admitted with a grunt. “I am… impressed.” “Now, tell us what happened to Celestia and Luna!” Twilight demanded. “Where are they? What—what did you do to them?” Grogar’s eyes weren’t on Twilight, or even Cozy anymore. He was staring past them, his blue face turning paler and paler as Chrysalis ravaged his body. “Where… are they?” he echoed, groaning. “You’d better tell us right now,” Rainbow threatened. “Or just you wait! We’re gonna… what are we gonna do, Twilight?” “Where are they,” Grogar repeated, almost too quietly to hear. And he smiled. His twin horns glowed with his yellow-black magic, and a correspondingly colored pool appeared underneath him. Midnight prepared another spell, but before she could fire it, the glittering cage filled with obscuring black fog. By the time she was able to cast yet another spell to see through the fog, the web of magic was empty, and Grogar was gone. She could only think of one thing to say, something dredged up from deep within Twilight’s mind: “Oh, ponyfeathers.”